A neurotransmitter produced by gut bacteria modulates host sensory behaviour.

ABSTRACT: Animals coexist in commensal, pathogenic or mutualistic relationships with complex communities of diverse organisms, including microorganisms¹. Some bacteria produce bioactive neurotransmitters that have previously been proposed to modulate nervous system activity and behaviours of their hosts^2,3. However, the mechanistic basis of this microbiota-brain signalling and its physiological relevance are largely unknown. Here we show that in Caenorhabditis elegans, the neuromodulator tyramine produced by commensal Providencia bacteria, which colonize the gut, bypasses the requirement for host tyramine biosynthesis and manipulates a host sensory decision. Bacterially produced tyramine is probably converted to octopamine by the host tyramine β-hydroxylase enzyme. Octopamine,

SUBMITTER: O'Donnell MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7853625 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature